32. ABA COMMITTEE RELEASES BEST PRACTICE GUIDELINES ON CIVIL LEGAL AID
The Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants produced a detailed set of best practice guidelines for civil legal aid programs across the nation. The new Standards for the Provision of Civil Legal Aid [PDF] focus on both the responsibilities of legal aid providers as organizations that serve the civil legal needs of low income persons, and the role of practitioners who represent low income clients under the aegis of such an organization.
This extensive document discusses governance of legal aid providers, keys to effectiveness, relations with clients, internal systems, quality assurance and practice standards. It tackles complex issues such as cultural competence and delivery of limited services. Replacing the 1986 Standards for Providers of Civil Legal Services to the Poor, the new guidelines reflect a number of fundamental changes in society, in low income communities, in the legal aid delivery structure and in the practice of law, all of which profoundly affect how legal aid providers function and how they serve low income persons.
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